Loyalty Undivided

"Loyalty Undivided" is the ninth episode of the first season of Decay and Rebirth.

Note: All episodes following the release of 'Loyalty Undivided' (including Loyalty Undivided itself) will be written in story mode.

Synopsis
Red Pearl decides once and for all whether she wants to stay or leave.

Story
It was an eerie night. Eerie, in how the stars twinkled strongly against the darkness of space, threatening to swallow the stars completely. Eerie, in how, if you opened your windows and squinted hard enough, you could see a lone figure, standing on the cliffside, watching the stars battle the darkness. The lone figure might be eerie itself, once you realized it wasn't human. But what you couldn't tell by looking at it was what it was actually looking for. It wasn't looking at the conflict before the figure, it was searching for it's home planet, up there in the stars...

As the sun rose, softly tinting the sky's colour, Steven was in bed. Indeed, eyes open, yet still in bed. He was thinking about which episode of Crying Breakfast Friends he would miss if he kept staying in bed. Steven however, dismissed this challenging, tempting, and disappointing thought and simply rolled over in his bed. He could not sleep however, as loud music was blaring from outside. His plans of sleeping in late were interrupted by a stout, purple being. "Wake up! Dude, they're having a beach party right now! Like, beach par-tay!" Amethyst shouted. "Do I have to? I'm tired from catching last night's monster..." Steven groaned, slowly getting up from his bed. "Have to? Have to? Dude, it's a requirement!" Amethyst exclaimed. "Even Pearl is coming!" "But today I just wanted to relax and hang out with Connie-" Steven protested. "Nuh uh, you aren't relaxing until you experience the par-tay!" Amethyst said. "Connie's coming with us! Well, she's already there!" Steven sighed and got out of his bed, brushed his teeth, and ate a quick breakfast of toast. He changed clothing from his pyjamas into his casual outfit. He opened the door to discover most of Beach City's citizens, all partying, eating, dancing, and socializing in general. Steven spotted Connie, eating a hot dog while watching other people play in the water. "Connie!" Steven shouted, trying to make his voice heard through all the music. Connie saw Steven and smiled, running over to him while finishing her hot dog. "Steven! This party is crazy!" Connie shouted. "I know! Wanna dance?" Steven shouted back at Connie. "But what if we fuse?" Connie shouted worriedly. Steven shrugged and pulled Connie into the dancing mob.

Observing all of this was an gem, watching from the poorly constructed windows of a red shack, next to a temple of great size. For this curious gem was the very same gem that had watched the stars, hours ago. Red Pearl did not know of these 'parties' and neither did Pearl teach her about them. To Red Pearl, this 'beach party' was a wild and uncontrollable form of celebration, and since she didn't know the reason they were celebrating, she didn't join it.

She was fairly uncomfortable with the loud music always at her ears, making it almost impossible to concentrate on building a spaceship. Yes, Red Pearl wanted to leave Earth. Earth was fine, but there was something wrong with Homeworld and she needed to find out what it was. Therefore, the only answer was to build a spaceship on her own and fly it there, as she knew the Crystal Gems disapproved of her leaving.

Red Pearl sighed and looked down at her blueprints. They seemed worthy and durable enough, though she was sure it would fail somehow, as Red Pearl was not as good at mechanics as Pearl. She needed approval. She was a Pearl and she was born to serve. It didn't feel right, having 'free rein' over Earth. Red Pearl clearly couldn't show her blueprints to the Crystal Gems. She sighed and crawled onto her luxury bed, laying down and thinking. Even if it did work, she needed to purchase the items and the items were bound to be expensive. She wasn't sure if five hundred 'dollars' was enough, and she didn't even know the exact value of a 'dollar'. Red Pearl made up her mind, grabbed her money, and set out the door, heading toward the city.

Steven walked away from the party, back to the temple with Connie, laughing. "Did you see Kevin's face when we fused?" Connie said, giggling. "Yeah!" Steven said, laughing with Connie. "Hey, now that we're done partying, wanna go eat some Chaaaaps and discuss Canine Court's newest episode?" Connie stopped laughing and grinned sheepishly. "I kind of wanna meet this... other Pearl." Connie said. "She goes by the name... Red Pearl." Steven replied. "Oh, so can we meet her?" Connie asked. "Sure! Let's go to her room." Steven smiled. Steven and Connie walked to Red Pearl's shack, opening the door. "Huh. Empty." Steven shrugged. "Aww... But, will she mind if we... uh, look through her stuff a bit? I'm curious, like look at these spaceship blueprints!" Connie said. "Spaceship blueprints?" Steven said as he looked through Red Pearl's attached notes. "Escape Pod 1124..." "Escape Pod 1124? Is she trying to escape Earth?" Connie questioned worriedly. "Pearl told me that she missed Homeworld a lot..." Steven said. "We need to tell the Crystal Gems!" Connie exclaimed. "Yeah!" Steven said, folding up and tucking the blueprints into his pockets. Steven and Connie then raced to find Pearl in the chaos of the party. A minute later, they discovered Pearl, standing next to a corn booth, arguing with Amethyst. "I'm not eating, and neither is Red Pearl." Pearl argued. "What do you know about what Red Pearl likes? She may as well be a food lover!" Amethyst shot back at Pearl. "Guys, guys! We need to tell you something in privacy!" Connie shouted. "Huh?" Pearl said. "Ooh, secrets!" Amethyst exclaimed as Connie and Steven led Pearl and Amethyst to the cliff. "Red Pearl plans on building a spaceship and escaping!" Steven whispered. "WHAT?!?" Pearl shouted. "Here's her blueprint." Steven said as he handed Pearl the blueprint of Escape Pod 1124. "This'll never work!" Pearl said as her eyes examined the blueprint carefully. "But we think she's going to try it anyways!" Connie said. "Oh gem, she's going to shatter herself! We've got to convince her!" Pearl said. While the group was talking, a red figure walked up from a store labeled 'Everything Weird'. "Hi. What are you discussing?" Red Pearl asked. "Er... C... Crying Breakfast Friends!" Amethyst lied. "Oh. I'll be in my room." Red Pearl said, walking away. "W-Wait! We... We know you plan on escaping! Y-Your ship design... While it is, er, good... It won't make it. You have to stay on Earth! What if you shatter when you come crashing down! What if you arrive at Homeworld and whatever rottenness has possessed it spreads to you?!" Pearl blurted out. "I... I'll.. think about it." Red Pearl said, briskly walking away. "I think we might've blew it." Amethyst said. "I think I might've 'blew' it." Pearl sighed. "It's okay, Pearl." Steven said, comforting her.

Red Pearl paced around in her room. The Crystal Gems had a point. What if it didn't work? According to Pearl, it wouldn't work at all and she would be shattered as she came crashing down to Earth. Red Pearl sighed. She had made up her mind already, yet the Crystal Gems were set on changing it. Red Pearl was peeved, annoyed, yet confused. She needed to think. She flopped onto her bed and slept.

At dusk, The Crystal Gems, Connie, and Red Pearl were seated at the dinner table. Red Pearl was only at the dinner table because she wanted to be polite to Connie. "So... Have you chosen?" Steven asked cautiously. "Yes." Red Pearl replied. "What's your choice?" Pearl asked nervously. "I have decided..." Red Pearl said. Everybody seemed to lean in closer to Red Pearl. "To officially become a Crystal Gem!" Red Pearl announced. Everybody cheered except for Pearl, who was clapping proudly. "But.. I would like to know how you found out about Escape Pod 1124..." Red Pearl said. Steven and Connie looked at each other.

[Continued in ' Trouble Arising']