[IC] We Are the Crystal Gems

[Raijinslayer]

Reggie gulped as the dark haired individual casually threatened to kill him, the certainty in his words making the homeless former heir quick to follow his orders. Hedid quirks his brow at the man's mentioning of food, and almost asked him what kind of food did such a being eat, though he quuckly clamped his mouth shut before he could make a sound. As he step out of Bloodstone's way, he suddenly thought of an idea for winning some good will from the creature.

"Uh, if you're hungry, I've got a packet of beef jerky in the side pouch of my sportsbag that you're more than welcome to aa long as you, ya know, don't kill me."

That was one of several packs of the stuff, and a box of Saltines as well. He'd gotten lucky one day while begging, as a rich guy had dropped him a 100 instead of a 1 by mistake. He'd taken that money to buy as many easily preserved foods as possible. Losing that pack would set him back some, but if it helped him keep his heart beating another day(and helped get him a closer look at this guy's tech), it would be worth the cost.

[@Krobshi]

[pyroman]

Mayor Coss had began to take the young man to an at least partially functional store where he was sure there would be a medical kit. When he had come to, Chuck had argued with him about his safety and well being, but eventually lost the argument. Still, his intentions were made clear and he had offered the man a shoulder of support. Still, he continued walking to the store so they could patch the boy up. He'd be sure to give the store a new regulation medical kit after reconsrtuction.

Because of his own growing son, Chuck was half tempted to warn the young man about his language, but reminded himself that he was probably on his own, and took care of himself, and would probably not use that language around a younger audience. "We do need you to get patched up, lad." The mayor spoke to the young man. "We've done all we can for Mohs, hopefully everyone is safe and far away."

[Kronshi]

Bloodstone looked the man up and down and then started to walk away, glad that this was finally over. Hearing an offer of food, Bloodstone stopped. 'Man I hate spending time with imbeciles but ... Food.' "Sure kid, I'll have a bag, but try anything funny and you won't be standing for long." Bloodstone walked up to the guy and could sense the fear. "Well, I don't have all day you know."

After finding a place to sit, Bloodstone ravaged the bag of beef jerky, leaving nothing left after about 2 minutes. Feeling a bit more peaceful after eating, he looked over to the man sitting beside him and then to his sword. With a mouth full of food, Bloodstone finally spoke, "You know how to use that thing?"

[Raijinslayer]

Reggie gave himself an mental pat on the back for his quick thinking. He'd thought the being would've just taken the food and left, but he was glad that wasn't the case. After retrieving the pack for the strange man, Reggie had to sit back and scream internally at the way this guy at his food. It went against all of his engrained home training, and brought about a bit of a twitch in his eye. That twitch only increased once he began talking with food still in his mouth.Hasn't this guy ever heard of table manners, geez, if he wasn't threatening to kill me I'd sit him down and show how to eat like a civilized human being. . . though does it matter as much when they're not human.

Reggie ruminated on this for a short while before he remembered that the dangerous man had asked him a question, and he was being a little rude by being quiet for so long. Generally, it's not a great idea to be rude to people that threaten to kill you, as it makes convincing them not to really, really hard.

"Um, yeah, my . . . my dad taught me how to use it. I'm rather good with it, if I do say so myself, though it doesn't do you much good when you're facing an angry hobo with a switchblade." Reggie chuckled a little, but it wasn't very light hearted because he'd been in that incident and the man he was talking about was trying to kill him. All he could really remember from the haze of that memory was the man running at him, then him drawing his sword and holding it out in front of him, before finally being tackled into the ground. He thought he'd be dead right then and there, but he suddenly felt a sarm liquid spread iver his hands. It was blood, but it wasn't his. That day still haunted him at night, though the guilt from that day had lessened over the years. The self-hatred and disgust he felt for what he did, however, would probably never go away.

Shaking his head free of these dreary thoughts, he looked back at Bloodstone, who had hopefully swallowed his food by now, and decided to try digging again. But he'd start simple first, to avoid annoying this guy too much.

"So, what is your name and what are you doing in Mohs Town of all places? I thought that Aliens were to invade, they'd hit the big cities first before moving on to places in the middle of Nowhere, Maine like this place."

[Loony]

Other than having joined in the laughter at Sodalite's antics, Evenkite remained mostly quiet, simply taking in Aquamarine and Spinel's words along with the sight of the ravaged area of town, too absorbed in the sights (another advantage of being held by Amber was just how much more she could see) and her thoughts to bother responding, never mind deal with the mess that was her hair. Her eyes scanned out for the familiar face of Johnny, for as little as she had known him, she was concerned for his well being. After all, Aquamarine has said that the Red Eye wanted to know exactly where 'we' are, 'we' referring to the other gems. He had no part in this and got involved anyways, which wasn't fair to the little gem.

As they continued on their way, Evenkite eventually broke her silence, asking, "Um, Aquamarine, ma'am, may I make a suggestion?"

She waited until she was sure she had her attention before continuing.

"If we're going to help the townsfolk, maybe we should split up to cover more ground? After all, there's more than enough of us to do so, and if you're concerned about potential dangers, we could split into two groups; you in one, Amber on the other, since you two seem to be the strongest gems. That way, we'll have enough protection on both ends."

Part of this was indeed the desire to cover more ground as she had stated, but she also had two ulterior motives. The first was the need to do something, anything useful for the group, for even something as simply as such a suggestion being accepted would feel like a war won after being what she thought of as a needless hindrance to the group, and the second was simply to have some distance between Aquamarine and her. Her feelings on the older gem were beginning to conflict with her previous ones, and she needed time to think them over away from her presence.

[Pathfinder]

Johnny paid little to the mans words, everything just kinda blended together in a haze of pain and injury. The only respite he found before his vision became too blurry was that, through some miracle, The Van pulled through in one piece. He could relax with that knowledge. The man brought him a first aid kit and began to do what he could, which wasn't much. The kit had some salves and Band-Aids to help with the injuries but they couldn't fix anything big, just soothe. At this point, pain and adrenaline was the only thing keeping him conscious. Everything hurt. His head hurt, his chest hurt, his insides hurt, just...everything was aching. Slowly it seemed whatever deity had spared him from the shrapnel just wanted to see him die from internal bleeding.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" he said a little weakly, the emotion oozing out of him like the blood from his temple.

[Akayaofthemoon]

Aquamarine's attention turned to Evenkite, having to look up slightly since Amber was carrying the smaller gem around. She listened to what she had to say and she couldn't deny that it was a solid idea. Amber could defend the ones going in his group while she watched over the others if anything should happen. "That sounds like a wonderful idea Evenkite. Everyone, let's meet back here in a bit or at least before dark so we can set up where we want to camp out so everything is ready before nightfall. Sodalite and Spinel, you two go with Amber and the rest of you follow me." Aqua stated and walked a little bit forward before stopping, glancing back at Amber and everyone else. "Please be safe..."

That being said, she continued onward through the town and taking the opposite path of the other group. The others would pull people out of buildings or help lead her to the places she needed to be to heal people. Her nerves were on edge every time she saw someone that even slightly resembled Johnny as she helped heal them, still afraid for the human she had unknowingly sent into a danger zone. She hoped that the sign of not seeing him meant that he had made it out alright. She already felt guilt gnawing at her for not being able to protect the town and those were strangers. The thought that Johnny might be hurt or worse was almost more than she could handle at the moment since she already had to worry about Emerald.

Aquamarine moved quickly to the next street only to have her breath catch in her throat and her body start to slightly shake before she found herself sprinting over to the two male humans. She ignored the older one for now, knowing he was trying to help the younger man but didn't care if she got in his way at the moment. Her hand shakily reached out hovering just above the others cheek but not daring to touch as tears started to roll down her face. "Oh my...Johnny! I'm so sorry, I never meant for this to happen. I promise your going to be fine just hang in there." Aqua exclaimed, quickly placing Emerald in her lap before making a slightly larger healing orb than the others. It glowed a brilliant sparkling light before crushing into a fine power, she sprinkled it carefully all over his body and watched carefully as everything started to stitch itself back together as if nothing had every happened though his clothes would be the tell tale sign that it wasn't all a dream.

[Kronshi]

"The names Blake, and I'm just looking for somebody in the area. Not sure who yet but I'll know them when I see them. And I'm not an alien, k." Blood looked around for any gems and then stood up since he didn't see them. "Well, if you know how to use that blade, let's see how well."

[Raijinslayer]

Don't know who your looking for, yet you'll now them when you seem 'em. That doesn't make any sense. Reggie couldn't help but wonder as 'Blake' told him his reason for being in town, as well as telling him he's not an alien. That last thing was BS, he knew what he saw back in the forest, but he decided not to push the issue. Obviously, Blake was keeping low and undercover, and probably wouldn't appreciate a human messing his plans. Maybe when he's less busy Reggie could talk to him about . . . if he could find the guy later, that is.

Reggie blinked slightly in confused surprise as Blake seemed to,challenge him to,a fight. Besides that being an obvious indicator that this guy wasn't from Earth since people haven't done that since the dark ages, it also seemed unfair since the man was unarmed.

"Okay, I'm cool with a littlr spar, though i'm a bit confused since you don't have a weapon. Do you fight unarmed or something, cause if so, I'm not to comfortable swinging a sword at you."

[Kronshi]

Blood was surprised when the kid asked if he fought unarmed, like someone would challenge a guy to a blade fight and not use one himself but on the other hand, "Me fighting unarmed would make it less likely that you would die, although in this situation it may happen anyway. To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't mind if you used that firearm of yours, I have only a .002% chance of even being injured if you used it."

Blood stepped forward, arms at the ready. 'Let's see if humans have any fight left in them.' Bloodstone charged the kid once he was standing and hoped for a decent fight.

[21308]

"Seems sensible." Spinel said. She started walking behind Amber as they separated and went into town. She tried not to pay too much mind to the awful state the town was now in, but there was a question she couldn't get out of her mind. Is this what gems do? She could look for answers later, however she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to ask Aquamarine. She scanned the area around her for Johnny as well, because she really wasn't sure what else to do. She wanted to help everyone, but she didn't have the skills for a situation like this and wasn't even sure where to start.

[pyroman]

Sodalite had split off with Evenkite's group. She had found her and Amber to be people she wanted to be around, and wordlessly moved with them in hoped of being able to cover more ground. Her gauntlets disappeared and she followed them, looking around and taking in the environment around them. She hoped that they could get a little break from all the fighting and destruction, but a voice in the back of her head had been telling her different.

------

"No, you aren't going to die." Mayor Coss said sternly to the young man. He was doing all he could with the medical kit to ensure the boy's safety. Things weer looking bleak, he didn't want to admit, but he was refusing to let him die under his care. "You're going to be fine, son." He told him, not in a familial way, mind you, but just as a term for the young man who was at least a decade younger than him.

He didn't hear the other approaching as he continued to work and apply pressure to Johnny's wounds. He had only taken notice of their presence as the blue one spoke.

His head turned to them, taking in the various appearances as something he could only describe as otherworldly. They all consisted of skin tones that obviously weren't human, and all had a gem somewhere on their body. That confirmed his thoughts even more so, as these were in fact the beings his son had gone on about before. "Crystal Gems..." He whispered, remembering what his son called them. That thing that decimated the town was a Death Eye, or something along the lines of that, he couldn't quite remember.

He said nothing as the blue one tended to Johnny's wounds much better than he ever could. Had he not heard about the gems before, he would have insisted that they were the ones who had started this mess, and would have most likely pulled Johnny away to keep him stafe from the being who destroyed his town.

It wasn't like that, though, so it didn't happen.

Straightening himself and stepping away from the boy, Mayor Coss looked at the Gem once more. "Everyone else is out of the town, this young man was helping a family before that thing hit the town." He told them, assuming that the boy had some sort of connection to the Gems.

[Pathfinder]

Darkness was about to overtake Johnny again when something blue took up most of his vision, whatever noises it made faded out before comprehension came. Then everything felt...better. His skin didn't hurt, his ear stopped ringing, and his vision came back to him. The only thing he could complain about now was how itchy he felt in this moment but he forgot about it as his savior came into focus. "Hey big blue, did ya save the world?" a weak, lopsided grin spread itself across his face as his strength slowly returned to him.

[Raijinslayer]

Reggie was confused by Blake's words, but didn't have much time to think on it as his opponent suddenly decided to attack him. Thinking fast, Reggie un hooked the sheath from the belt, then swung his seord, sheath and all, at his opponent's head, keeping it from falling off with his fingers.. Once he made contact, he'd release his hold on the sheath, drawing the blade out as he followed the momentum of the swing, launching a spinning back kick into his opponent's gut. The leg would land behind him as he took a stance, his naked blade shining as the sunlight danced upon it's razor-sharp edge.

He hesitated slightly on what to do next,as he didn't want to hurt Blake, or worse, kill him. He doesn't seem to have the same reluctance, however, so it would be best to be prepared to get my hands dirty. The thought of hurting this man made himsick, but he swallowed it down as he took a defensive stance, not willing to attack his opponent as he had no idea what they could do.

[Kronshi]

As Reggie swung, Blood stopped his charge completely. He would have fought back but due to being a gem he knew there would be no damage dealt to him. When the sheath struck his head, he didn't show any signs of being harmed and instead grabbed the sheath to make it easier for the human to slide the blade out and as the kick hit his gut, Bloodstone was impressed the human didn't break his foot. Given a gem weapon this kid might be useful on the battle field. Bloodstone took the sheath that he still had in his hand and struck it lightly against the side of the human right as he was finishing taking his stance, if he actually tried he would break the kid's ribs but even though it was light for Bloodstone, he was sure it would knock the wind out of the kid and knock him on his butt.

Bloodstone then saw what looked like humans walking this way so he quickly took a seat on the bench that was still nearby. As they got closer he realized that they weren't humans but gems. Most likely the gems he had attacked earlier, now they were coming right to him. 'Hmmmm, stay in character as a human, take advantage to talk to these gems.' Blood decided to stay in disguise for now and see what happens, maybe he could win with brains alone and trick these gems into following him to his ship.

[Akayaofthemoon]

Aquamarine couldn't help but laugh slightly at Johnny's words, tears still running down her cheeks at the second close call of the day. She hugged him softly, being as gentle as possible just in case everything was still trying to heal on the inside since that would take a little bit longer."Thank the stars you are alright." she smiled, letting go of him and wiping at her tears. "You do know there are better ways to get attention right?" Aqua joked lightly, rather thinking on the positive instead of dwelling on the 'what if' that hadn't happened. She picked up Emerald's icy orb from her lap, standing up before turning to the older man that had helped Johnny.

She straightened herself, hearing the authority in the older man's voice and nodded softly as he briefed her on the fact that everyone else was out of town. A huge weight felt like it had been lifted from her shoulders just by that one sentence. She smiled brightly before speaking,"That is something I am relieved and extremely happy to hear. I have more questions if you have the time but first I believe an introduction is in order. I'm Aquamarine, it is a pleasure to meet you."

[pyroman]

The blue one had introduced herself as Aquamarine. Chuck nodded to her and held his hand out to her. He assumed she knew normal human customs and hand shaking, and after a moment of having his arm hanging in the air, he awkwardly set it down back down to his side. "Mayor Charles Coss." He introduced himself to the group. "I run the town." He didn't want to make it seem like he was a dictator or shady politician. He wanted the best for the town.

"Your questions?" He asked her, assuming they would be the normal things like a status report of the town and the current condition of the citizens. The chief of police would call him once everyone was at the predetermined safety distance away from the town.

[HaltingBlooper]

-Inside GEmerald-

Emerald heard something going on outside, he couldn't tell what, but something was happening. He didn't want to miss anything, and his back was better now. "I guess I'll just...reform......somehow. How do I do that?" Emerald started panicking a bit and then stopped. "Well, I have to figure out what is up there, they might be in trouble!" For all he knew, that weird guy could have sent more of those spiders back. He had to get out!

-Back to normal stuffs-

Emerald's Gem started glowing, and the ice globe was shattered by a growing ball of light, taking on Emerald's reformed body and, well, he was there. Emerald started looking around at everything he could take in. "What happened? Is that guy back? Is-" Emerald stopped, looking at Aquamarine and the other guy. "Err........hi?"

[Raijinslayer]

Reggie sucked in a breath as Blake took the sheath and swung it into his side, the force of the blow nearly bringing him to his knees. He was barely able to keep from keeling over, swaying slightly in his stance and nearly letting his sword slip through his hands. He was able to power though it eventually, but as his vision focused again, he started to think he'd fainted and was having a very weird dream. He took this moment to pinch himself, than slap his face, then tried pinching again.

Okay, I'm not dreaming, so this is really happening. Calm yourself, Reggie, take deep breathes and relax. He attempted to do just that, but the moment he did so, Reggie felt his side ache with the pain from the previous blow. Okay, forget breathing, lets just save the freak-out session for later. Right now, you have to accept the fact that an Orange giant, a yellow elf, a ghost, and a weird blue girl are walking down the street like they own the place . . . . . Nope, can't do it, this is way too weird.

Just as Reggie was about to seriously question his sanity, he remembered something that Blake had just said not to long ago.

I'm just looking for somebody in the area. Not sure who they are yet, but I'll know them when I see them.

"Hey Blake, would that quartet of oddity be the 'someone' you were looking for. If so, I can see why you said that you'd know them on sight. I think that white one is glowing too, damn, today just keeps on getting weirder and weirder. Guess we'll save the spar for later, huh?" Reggue sure hoped so, cause that hit had hurt like hell, and was aching like a bitch. He wasn't keen on becoming a walking bruise, or worse, by sparring that guy anytime soon again. Not too mention that Reggie had the sneaking suspicion that Blake had been going 'easy' on him. That was not a comforting thought, not in the slightest.

[Saarebas]

"You lot are trusting me? _{This isn't going to go well.}" The towering Gem that was Amber mumbled to himself as he herd the idea of the group splitting up into two groups, one of which he was now responsible for protecting. Sure he did seem the most physically able of the group, but seeing as less then thirty minutes ago he was reduced to noting but a tiny rock Amber had a ounce of doubt in himself. No he couldn't think like that now, epically seeing that the group had already split up. Mustering his most confident grin Amber turned to the rest of the Gems in his group. "Well yo' lot 'erd the lady. We are going to 'elp these... uh humans right? Yeah humans! We are going to 'elp these humans the best we can... _{bloody 'ell if I know how I'm going to do that.}" He said before he spun on his massive heel towards the town. "What are we waiting for? Lets go!" He said with a laugh before walking off towards the town.

It didn't take long for them to reach what was left of the half destroyed town and things didn't look much better up close. Most of the buildings were simply turned into a crater and others that were left had fallen in on themselves. "Geez..." Amber mumbled out loud as he looked around. He scanned for anyone that he could help, but it seemed that most of the people that were in the town had already evacuated. Well that is what he thought before he heard a couple of voices. Turning his attention to the sound Amber spotted a two humans and one looked a bit worse for wares. "Uh do yo' two need uh help?" He asked, though the words came clumsily out of his mouth.